Inside Ralph Lauren's Eye-Popping Rhinelander Mansion

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Nearly twenty-five years ago, when Ralph Lauren opened his Polo store at the Rhinelander Mansion here on New York's Upper East Side — affectionately known as The Polo Mansion — no one had seen a store that offered this kind of total brand experience. Not in America, at least. And certainly not men, for whom shopping meant the department store: a shirt in the shirt department, a coat in the coat department, and there you go.

But The Mansion (a Beaux Arts masterpiece in its own right) was an environment where you could experience the world — a big one — from the Polo point of view. And people flocked there. They spent boat loads of money there. And, suddenly, Mr. Lauren had fundamentally changed the way Americans shopped. Have you been in a department store recently? It's all divided into mini-environments for each brand, and now you know why.

Ever since, The Mansion has been the go-to destination for all things Polo-related, except things on planet Polo have... expanded. There just wasn't enough space in this flagship to house all the iterations that Ralph Lauren now has to offer. So the company bought the building across the street for the women's and home collections (that will open later this year) and built out 20,000 square feet worth of environments suitable for every men's collection in The Mansion, replete with decor and architecture appropriate for each. Black Label, Purple Label, Polo — each gets its own floor here, plus one to bind them all. And each features space for made-to-measure services (Black Label's room is above). You can also create your own polo, like on the Web, except they'll monogram it here in twenty minutes. They also monogram every garment bag that leaves the building. It would appear that Ralph Lauren is attempting to redefine shopping in America once again, and that things are looking positively modern.

The two new floors aren't open for business yet, but today The Style Blog got a sneak peek, including a preview of the RRL offerings exclusive to the Mansion — and the products that Ralph does not make, but were too good to pass up. Below, a selection of images and merchandise on offer....

Which are perfect for riding this 1966 cc aluminum monster: The Confederate 120 Fighter Combat handmade motorcycle. This is the prototype. Only four are still available for sale. Price, as you might guess, is upon request.